


Not Like The Other

by hariboo



Series: Veins Verse [2]
Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Background John/Elizabeth, Background Relationships, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-06
Updated: 2012-11-06
Packaged: 2017-11-18 03:10:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/556232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hariboo/pseuds/hariboo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jennifer and Ronon’s first case together. The one they officially meet at.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Like The Other

**Author's Note:**

> Based off my previous SGA Big Bang 2009 fic co-written with little_giddy “Lost In The Veins of this City”. You don’t need to read that fic to understand the verse, just be aware that this is a cop AU. John and Elizabeth are private eyes in this AU, not cops, but they have a relationship with the ACPD. They were cops but they aren’t anymore, which is a WHOLE another story. Literally. Also in the first fic Ronon was undercover under Koyla and now he’s not. Any questions about any of these things, feel free to ask. 
> 
> This has been in my WIPs for a long time. A horribly long time.

“You know, crime scenes usually aren’t this exciting,” Jennifer comments. The shooting has died out and she’s finally allowed to move from where she was unceremoniously shoved behind a wall for her own protection. “Unless they’re Mitchell and Lorne’s," she amends, because really she has no idea how those two get into some of the situations they do. The car chase that ended in the mall's Best Buy still gave her giggles.

Dusting herself off carelessly, Jennifer watches as the air around her grows clouded with the dust mites from the residue the shoot out that just occurred in the meth lab they called her to not even an hour ago. She stands, looks around the corner of the wall, and surveys the scene. 

This isn’t normally how her time at crime scenes go.

In fact as the medical examiner for the Atlantis City Police Department she’s ideally called to the scene _after_ all the shooting has occurred. Or the murder is discovered. All depends on the day and crime. Ideally, of course, because normal she’s noticed doesn’t have much bearing when you worked for ACPD. Or when you were John Sheppard and Elizabeth Weir, but that was neither here or there. At least not today.

“If you want, I can always call them in,” a deep voice replies to what she thought was an unheard comment. Jennifer fights the urge to blush. Fails. “You can go in now, I’ll have Ramirez make the call to the station.”

Getting the all clear from the ex-Vice, now Narcotics detective Ronon Dex, whose crime scene now resembles a scene from any action movie currently in existence, Jennifer heads over to the reason she was called in the first place. The dead boy sprawled in the middle of the room. Making note of the way the body lays on the floor and the rigidity of the of its muscles she lets her eyes drift over to the second and brand new reason she has to be here. 

The _brand new_ dead body. 

Unlike the first however, she knows exactly the cause of death of this one. Looking over her shoulder towards where Detective Dex stands, arms crossed across his chest, which are forcing his rolled up sleeves to expose more of the tattoos that decorate his forearms, she has to admit, he's a good shot. Two in the chest, just like they teach everyone in the Academy. It had barely taken him a minute to find an opening. 

Frowning at the loss of life, something she's never (and probably will never) quiet get used to, she settles into doing her work. The the other body, lying about six feet away with the time of death of roughly 4.27 pm, the cause of death was easily figured — a fact helped that she had actually been there when the Wraith member barrelled into the room and started shooting with no regard to himself or anyone else, trying to drive them out of the crude meth lab. With a shudder she realises she can still feel the strength and speed in Det. Dex’s movements as he pulled her back, behind him. How the smell of gunfire still lingers in the air. That body is easily accounted for and already mentally filed, though she would of course give it a proper work up when she got back to her nice and clean office where all the bullets were accounted for and catalogued. (Later, she would also confirm that the Wraith member had also been high on the product he helped in destroying.)

However the body that lays in front of her is a different story. Looking at it she can tell it wasn’t as simple as it was staged to look. And it looks like a gang execution. More specifically a Wraith gang execution: gunshots to the chest and forehead, but as she fingers the wounds with her gloved hand she can tell it isn't as simple as that. Jennifer kneels over the body and presses her fingers gently against the dead boy’s throat — 18-19 year old, she mentally notes — and frowns.

“So what do you have for me?” Dex asks, standing near the head of the boy. He looks even taller than he normal and she berates herself, because, duh, she’s kneeling on the floor, but it’s more than just the impression of greater height. With his arms still crossed, his dreads pulled back, the frown on his face, and the intense focus in his eyes the image all together makes him looks less like a cop and more like solider. She bows her head to hide her smile, because that’s probably why the Captain likes him, the Captain being an ex-Air Force himself.

She wants to study the body more, if only for a few more seconds, before she gives him an answer so she nods to the other body, opening the mouth of the one in front of her. “Well, we know how the other one died. Nice double tap,” she shoots him a wry look that he returns before smelling her fingers that just pried the mouth open. She then closes the still open eyes now and sighs.

Removing her gloves, the plastic pulling at the small hairs on her hand, she stands, “This one isn’t as simple.”

He raises an eyebrow. Jennifer clears her throat, wanting another moment to get her thoughts together, and because it was either that or blush, and blushing just won’t do.

“And why is that?”

Jennifer looks back down at the body. So young.

“Keller?”

She snaps back up and meets his steady gaze.

“For one, I'm pretty sure he was shot after he was dead.”

His eyes widen for a fraction of a second and he turns to look at the body too, nods. “Okay, then. That’s unexpected.”

Jennifer has to agree. Very unexpected. But most things in Atlantis are.

-

The rest of her time at the crime scene is spent as normal as it is at any other. Something she’s grateful for. She watches as the bodies get loaded onto the ambulance while everyone around her starts blocking off the area and she can hear Dex talk with Ramirez, another detective in the same unit. When the bodies are loaded into the M.E's van and on their way back to the precinct she’s off too. 

The remainder of her morning is spent doing her working through her case load.

She starts on the autopsies when she gets back, meticulously removing the bullets and sending them to Cadman even though by now she recognises the make by sight. But Laura would feel left out if she didn’t get new bullets to play with so Jennifer sends them up for further testing. She makes a note about how it was Dex’s gun that fire the shot the killed their second body and she by now she’s stopped feeling bad about the extra paperwork this will mean for him. Mitchell and Lorne weaned her off of paperwork sympathy a long time ago. Then she makes her usual three copies of the medical reports: one for herself, one for Dex, and an extra one as backup. After, she starts on the blood samples. The first body had more than regular street meth in its system, something that she had been thinking about since the crime scene and the sweet smell that she got from inside its mouth. When she’s done loading the mass spectrometer that she finally persuaded the Captain to invest in last year for Autopsy so she doesn't always have to go back and forth with Forensics, she rolls her shoulders, feeling them click, and goes to get some coffee.

Morning pushes on to afternoon with her finishing the medical reports for a few other cases, sending them up to Mitchell, Lorne, Teyla, Stackhouse, and then checking on the blood samples from the morning. She’s just printing out her findings to add to the reports when her door swings open and in strides Detective Dex.

He walks with purpose in easy, long strides. In that moment Jennifer realises she’s used to Mitchell and Teyla’s easy way when they pay her a visit, always with a call of greeting and smile. All the cops in the building treat her one of two ways she’s noticed: easy and casual or stiff and distant, but always respectful. She’s never had Ronon Dex in Autopsy before, even though he’s been part of the ACPD for just over a month now, and right away she’s has a feeling that this won’t be like having Ford looking over her shoulder when she’s wrist deep in a body or when Evan looks away when she starts cutting.

“I’m here for the medical report,” he says, eyes glancing at the bodies on the tables in front of her. Clearly he's not one to mince words.

Jennifer smiles in an effort not to swallow or blush and grabs the just finished report. “Excellent timing, just finished it.” She quickly slips in the blood test analysis into the reports, sets her copies down, and keeps his copies in hand. “We have Steve Wright on this table. He’s the one that tried to shoot up the lab when we there. After checking his blood I found extremely high concentration for surprise surprise, meth, which isn’t actually surprise to any of us, but nothing lethal.”

Nodding, he looks at the body and frowns, “Yeah, from what we got from canvasing the area is that he’s a regular of the neighbourhood. Has a few misdemeanours mostly.”

She frowns at the body. “That’s sad, he seems so young.”

“A lot of Wraith members start out young.” 

Jennifer, who’s rounding on three years in the ACPD, knows just true that statement is. She looks up at him and wordlessly hands over the second report. The one he’s really interested in.

She watches him as he opens it and looks through it and makes her way to the other examination table.

“This one however…”

“Keith Masters.”

“He had, as you know, two gunshots, one to the head, one to the chest. Classic Wraith execution technique, but what made different from every other Wraith execution I’ve seen is that the gunshots were done post-mortem. Not long after, but enough that it would affect the blood coagulation from the wounds. There’s barely any where normally with these types of wounds there would be a considerable amount.” She moves closer to the body, feeling him follow, as she continues, “What convinced me that this wasn’t just a normal Wraith meeting gone wrong was the smell though.”

He looks up from the body and meets her eyes—Jennifer completely ignores the jolt that just went through her system—as he asks, “The smell?”

Grabbing a pair of gloves for the table behind her and slipping one on she traces the body’s lips. “Yep, his breath smelled wrong. Very wrong for a normal dead body.” She twists her lips as she looks down at the body and carefully pries the lips apart letting him move closer if he wants too. He looks at her, one scarred brow rising, and then shrugs, lowers his head, nose just a few inches from the pale lips, and sniffs. Jennifer bites the inside of her cheek.

When he straightens, eyes on her again, she can’t help but notice how he suddenly seems to take more space, or it could be that he stepped closer to table. This time she does swallow.

“It smells—“

“Sweet,” she grins and carefully closes the lips once more. “It smells sweet, and that’s weird.”

“Do you know what it means?” he asks, moving around the table closer to her.

“Almost,” she grabs the file form him and flips through it, mostly out habit, explaining her findings, “It’s definitely something that was given to him. Something not quite the composition of what we're used to seeing in the regular street meth but close. Very close, and probably the reason whoever shot him was there in the first place.” She pauses and looks up at the tall detective, now standing practically at her side. “What did he do?”

He raises his eyebrow again and she can feel her cheeks heat up— _Wow, Jenn, chill out, it's an eyebrow_ , she berates herself.

“I mean, who was he?”

“Cooker, from what we gathered. Wraith cooker.”

Jennifer lets the new information sink and looks at the body of Steve Wright on the far table. “Friends probably, members of the same faction; cooker and addict. Friends came in to probably score some free stuff from his buddy and found us hovering over his friend’s body. Masters was probably making something for someone else and they either didn’t like what he made or did and didn’t want anyone to know he made it.”

She can feel Ronon's eyes on her and really tries not cringe when she looks at him. “Sorry, just, I grew up around cops, and I just—“

“No, it’s fine. Pretty much what I was thinking.” His lips curl into not quite a smile, but it makes her stomach jolt again, which she steadfastly ignores again. “So, someone killed this kid for what he made or what he knew?”

Jennifer shrugs, it’s mostly conjecture at this point, but the story fits. “Possibly. Whatever he had in him was definitely not meth, or not the kinds of meth we're used to seeing, and he had way too high of amounts for it to be just a kid wanting to trip out. He was overdosed, and it probably was done so purposely. It feels like—well, it’s stupid.”

“No, tell me," he nods to her, urging her forward.

“It almost feels like a test, like they wanted to see what it did—this drug, and when they were done they didn’t want anyone around to be able to replicate it.” Jennifer sets the file down back her desk and settles onto her stool. “It’s very odd, but either way we know one thing.”

“They didn’t want him to talk,” he interjects, crossing his arms, looking down at the dead boy one again before meeting her gaze again.

“Yeah,” she agrees, absently tapping her finger on her desk. “Do you think this is about a new Wraith drug to market?”

He frowns, considering, but shakes his head, “No, they wouldn’t have killed their cooker if it was, but we’ll see.” Arms uncurling from his chest — the sleeves still rolled up — to grab the file she dropped back on her desk, and Jennifer finds herself watching the progress of his arm — the tattooed arrows shifting over muscle — as he grabs it. Realising she's starting, she makes herself look up at him before she make a fool of herself. And since when does she have a thing for tattoos? 

“Thanks, Keller.” He says, nodding once before heading out.

When he’s at the door she almost bits her lip in an effort not to call out but her mouth is quicker than her brain for once.

“Jennifer.”

He half turns, his body profiling the door way, and god, this is not good, she thinks because the florescent lights of her autopsy room should not make anyone look that attractive.

“What?”

“Jennifer. Everyone around here calls me Jennifer or Jenn. Well, except Came—uh, Mitchell, who has about ten nicknames for everyone, but that’s because he thinks it’s cute.”

“Okay.” He smiles, and yep, bad _bad_ thoughts are going through her mind right now. “Ronon.” 

She nods, smirking, and turns back to her work when she hears his voice again.

“See you later, Jennifer.”

He’s mostly a shadow by the time she turns back to the door, but she still calls out.

“See ya!”

So lame, Jennifer. So lame.

-

Her day finishes up normally after that. Ford comes in with a coke and a sandwich around four hiding from Teyla who according to him has the I Want To Beat Someone Up look on her face. That only serves to remind Jennifer to ask Teyla for some gym time before she sends him back to his partner. Around six Cameron comes in asking for an ice pack, because it seemed that Aidan had been right about Teyla’s need to kick some ass and he had been the one she found. But no more dead bodies come in and she doesn’t get called to any other crime scenes. 

Despite her exciting morning it’s turned out to be an incredibly quiet day for the city.

She works on piled up reports and runs up a few times to the forensics’ area to bum some coffee from Radek. There she asks them to run a few extra checks on the blood tests from this morning to see if they can pick up anything she missed and smiles when Radek and Rodney start arguing over what they think this new drug might be. They tell her she’ll have their results in the morning all the while waving her away.

When Laura bounces in around nine asking about a late dinner, which Jennifer readily agrees to, saying goodbye to Marie who has just come in for the night shift. 

As they make their way out Jennifer shivers in the late April chill. She buttons up her jacket, looking up the cloudy sky as she listens to Laura tells her about the slugs she’s been working with today and how boring a day with only one shooting is. Jennifer doesn’t mention that these are her favourite kind of days, just nods along. They consider going to the Vala’s for dinner but Laura says something about beer and pool so the decision is made as she slips into Laura’s passenger seat. 

Chuck’s it is.

It’s been a long if quiet day but even so she looks forward to the bar. It’s still too early for everyone to be there, but when they step into the dry warmth of the building she spots Evan talking to Sheppard and, to her surprise, Ronon by the bar. She and Laura pass by them with smiles and an extra wink from Laura part asking John if he’s moved out of the top floor of his and Elizabeth’s building yet. Everyone snickers as John’s ears turn a telltale red and Elizabeth’s voice cuts through from behind. 

“Not until he learns what hampers are for.” 

Jennifer laughs, sharing a look with Elizabeth, as the other woman smiles warmly at her before seating herself on the open stool next to John Jennifer didn’t even notice. 

It’s funny how natural this all feel talking to them now, teasing John, smiling at Elizabeth. She remembers a time when everything was a lot harder between them, all of them in the ACPD, but that was a long time go and she thinks that maybe they’ve all gotten as close to okay as they can. Hell, when they’re too lazy to go to Carson at the clinic she’s the one to stitch them up. It says a lot about Elizabeth and especially John and their trust in her. When Evan asks her if she’s okay, she takes the concerned teasing in good spirits because she knows that it’s just how they show their worry. Ronon recounts most of it and she flushes when it come to her part of the tale. They glance at each other as he edits the bit he pushed her behind him and the broken wall. Evan grins at that and starts telling the story of when she found herself between him and Cameron in a Genii warehouse under siege. A fun day for all.

When he starts to talk about how Mitchell still shows of the scar he got that day Laura pulls her forward, with promise to beat Evan at pool later. Jennifer barely has time to wave before she’s across the room. Laura signals and calls out to Chuck for a couple of burgers and three beers as they find a table. Two of those beers will be for Laura who has never met an alcoholic drink she can’t sleep off. Jennifer, while no light weight, already feels too sluggish to really drink tonight. 

Jinto passes by with their beers and tells them that the burgers will be out in a few and that's when Laura starts questioning Jennifer on her day; more specifically her morning. There’s nothing to tell, not really, and the crime scene was tame in comparison to John’s demonstration of loyalty last month and the double homicide that Mitchell and Lorne handled last week. But last month she barely spoke to Ronon at the remains of that mansion in Interzone too focused on John, Elizabeth, the fact they were _alive_ , and she hasn’t crossed paths with him a lot despite knowing the interest the man holds over most of the ACPD’s personnel. 

Undercover with Koyla for a year, yeah, he holds interest.

“Well?” Laura insists, taking a long drink from beer number one. 

Jennifer shrugs, glancing back at the bar where Ronon's still talking to John and Elizabeth. “There’s nothing to tell, it was exciting, but I was closer to getting shot when Aidan thought it would be a good idea for me to practice at the gun range.”

Laughing, Laura rolls her eyes, “Bullshit, you’re a good shot and double bullshit because I can see you undressing him with you eyes.” 

“Laura!” 

“What, I didn’t say I wasn’t doing it too.” Her grin is playful and only makes Jennifer narrow her eyes at her friend. 

“He saved my life, you know.” Jennifer frowns and takes a drink from her own beer, remembering the morning, “Well, it was more like he made sure I wasn’t in any danger because that kid was too high to care where he was shooting at.” Didn’t mean she didn’t remember the plaster exploding by her head and his grip as he shoved her between the wall and himself. “He’s really good though… to get off the shot he did to stop the shooter.”

Laura leans forward, covering one of Jennifer's hand with her own. “And you’re okay with that?” 

She shrugs, “Part of the job, right?”

“Sometimes,” Laura twists her lips into a frown, fingers tapping against the sweating bottle’s neck, “So no love at first shoot out?” Laura’s grin is fast and wicked and not for the first time Jennifer wonders at the compartmentalisation working at the ACPD requires. She almost spits out her beer, trying not to laugh, and only ends up coughing for a good ten-seconds, glaring at her friend. 

“Horrible, you are horrible,” she coughs, shaking her head. “And no, no love at first shoot out. We’re not a tv show.”

“Cute. You know I love _Bones_. Seely Booth could so get it. ”

Before Jennifer can answer Jinto comes with their food and for a few seconds their conversation is forgotten as they eat. For a place not known for its food Chuck makes a damn good burger. With her mouth full and cheeks puffing out Laura asks Jennifer if she wants to go to a movie this weekend and from there their conversation changes from work, imaginary love affairs, dead bodies to one of their preferred debates: action film (Laura) or romcom (Jennifer).

Later, Laura does beat Evan at pool but Evan takes it like a champ and promises a rematch. 

Ronon, John and Elizabeth are gone by then and Jennifer won’t admit she watched every step a certain person took from the bar to the door. Or that as he left he looked back in a silent good-bye. When Laura drops her off at home she tells Jennifer that tomorrow she expects more dish on The Ronon Situation. It’s mostly a tease yet it makes Jennifer’s stomach twist and not unpleasantly. 

She goes to bed and just she lays there, running her tongue over her freshly brushed teeth, letting herself wonder for the smallest of moments on _what ifs_ before she falls asleep.

-

Around one in the afternoon the next day she realises that yesterday uncharacteristically quiet day was the universe’s way of giving the department the day off. 

By the time she dropped her bag onto her desk at eight, sharing pleasantries with Marie on her night, Jennifer gets called out to a homicide (Vega is ever the consummate professional about her job, but always friendly), then there’s a botched burglary that ends in one dead body (Teyla and Ford are there and like angels come down from heaven they take one look at her and hand over their coffees. Both of them. Angels, like she said, and free babysitting for Teyla whenever), and just as she think she’s going be able to sit for a second or two the call comes in that Mitchell and Lorne have a murder down by the financial area, near Hoffan Industries. One of their researchers is found dead by his car (thankfully no extra shoot outs this time). When she finally gets back to Autopsy she’s ready to drop, has three bodies waiting, and hasn’t eaten since her now ill-advised and very small bowl of cereal this morning. 

She rummages through her drawers for her emergency Milky Way, exclaiming in success when she finds it, so of course just when she takes her first bite — oh sweet chocolatey goodness — that the doors to Autopsy swoosh open and she’s about to berate whoever it is about not having a moment to get started on the bodies resting on her tables when she notices it’s Ronon. 

With an audible swallow and her mouth feeling too thick from the chocolate bar, she wonders what he’s doing here. “Uh, what are you doing here?”

Smooth, Jennifer. Smooth. 

He either doesn’t notice her descent into awkwardness or doesn’t care because he gives a quick look around and nods. “I was wondering if I could work down here.” 

She’s vaguely considers that she fell asleep on her feet, because, _what?_

“I’m sorry, what?” _Seriously, is her blood sugar that low?_

“It’s quiet down here.” 

And... okay, Jennifer has to give him that. Despite the traffic her area gets, it is generally quiet; it’s part of the reason she likes it. 

“Okay...”

“I like the quiet,” Ronon says, “and this the quietest place I’ve found in the building.”

“Yeah, it is, but don’t you have a desk?” 

“It’s noisy where my desk is.”

Jennifer is now positive that she fell asleep on her feet. Sure of it. “Okay?”

Ronon seems to be amused at her (rightly earned!) confusion but he doesn’t laugh at the look that she’s sure must be gracing her face. “So can I?”

“Work down here?” 

“Yes.” 

Jennifer looks back to the three bodies waiting on her, her tiny desk, closed in by huge file cabinets, then back at Ronon who is not tiny, and she’ll blame it on exhaustion later that she agrees.

“I have to get to work on those bodies. It was a busy morning. So if you’re squeamish—” she warns him. It’s all well and fine that he hangs out here, she’s baby-sat Torren in this room, Laura comes down every now and again for lunch, but she needs to work and from the way this day is going it’s not looking to let up.

“I can handle blood and guts,” he grins. She waves him over to her desk.

“Somehow I’m not surprised,” she mutters, pulling her hair up, heading to her bathroom to change into a pair of scrubs. Her chocolate bar is a little melty in her hands and she takes the opportunity to finish it while changing. 

-

They work in surprisingly companionable silence. She looks over at him every once in a while because she can’t believe he’s there, sitting at her desk of all places, looking over files, making notes, working. Like this is normal. When she notices herself lingering a little too long on his shoulders she snaps back on and focuses on her work because seriously, it’s not the first time one of the detectives in this precinct have come to hang out here. It can get really warm around mid summer and her air-conditioning is never out. Dead bodies tend to smell.

She’s finishing sewing up Vega’s body — male, 30 years of age roughly, .38 caliber bullet to the lungs, filled them with blood, causing the victim to essentially drown in their own blood — when Cameron bursts in. 

“Jenny-bean, what do you have for me?” 

It’s bad to want to kill your friends, Jennifer tells herself, cringing at the new nickname. Sometimes she really hates this whole adopted family she’s picked up since talking her way into the ACPD. Ronon doesn’t even flinch at the sound of Cameron’s voice and boy isn't this is going to be fun?

She looks up from her final stitch on the body and pointedly makes a note instead of answering Cameron. When she does face him, he’s looking between her and Ronon with what can only be called shock, but clears his face quickly enough when she addresses him. 

“Cam, I have nothing for you.” 

He blinks, frowns, then almost glares but seems to settle for a stiff lip, “Jenn.”

“I had a busy morning, Mitchell. Homicide out by Interzone, burglary shoot out across town, and then yours. I have three bodies to process and I’ve only just finished the first. Then it’s Teyla’s case and then yours.”

She can see he is struggling not to pout, “Why am I last?”

“I do them as I get them. You drew the short straw today or would you like me to tell Teyla that you had me bump her?” Raising an eyebrow, she lets him know that she’s aware of _exactly_ that will mean for him, personally speaking. 

He sighs a bit dramatically letting her know he’s not mad and leans on the wall, “Fine, _fine_. But I want you to call me the second you’re done.” 

“I always do, don’t I?” Feeling gracious, she pats his arm and gives him a wide smile before turning to make copies of her current notes. Grabbing the official reports to fill out she notices that Cameron hasn’t moved. In fact it looks like he’s holding up the wall and when she gives him a curious look he gives her one back, eyes pointedly moving to where Ronon is still sitting working. (Or as she suspects watching her and Cameron’s every move.) She rolls her eyes, huffs, and crosses over to Cameron.

“Yes?” she hisses.

He bows his head and purses his lips in Ronon’s direction, voice low. “What’s that about?”

“He’s working,” she shrugs.

“Okay, I see that, but why is he working here?” Cameron looks worried and that softens the irritation she’s feeling towards him somewhat. 

“It’s quiet.” Repeating Ronon’s words from before, Jennifer really tries not laugh at the look that crosses Cameron’s face. “It’s noisy in Narcotics.”

“Hmmm,” crossing his arms, Cameron glances towards Ronon, “And you’re okay with it?”

Shaking her head, she pushes him towards the doors, “Unlike some people, he’s not preventing from getting on with my work.”

Now he really does pouts, “You wound me, Jenn!”

“I’ll call you when I have you report ready!” She calls out and turns back to where she now has two bodies to examine. Ronon is looking at her, lips curled in amusement and she smiles back, lifting a shoulder. 

“Homicide detectives…”

“Right,” he taps the tip of his pen — wait, that’s her pen — against her desk once and looks towards the doors. “Are you sure you don’t mind that I’m here?” he asks, confirming her suspicions that he'd been all too aware of her and Cameron’s little tete-a-tete.

Grabbing the forms she needs to finish filling out, she shoots a look over her shoulder, “Like I told Cameron, I don't, and I would tell you if you are.” Brushing past him she grabs another pen from her desk for the first time feeling completely at ease near him. “I’m gonna get back to work now. Feel free to glare at Cameron he pops down here again.”

He laughs, and she’s thankful that she already turned towards the examining tables because yep, that’s a blush. Like her and whole station know, it’s never cold enough in Autopsy to blame it on the heat. 

-

By the time she calls Cameron and Evan down after Vega, Teyla and Ford come and go, Ronon is gone. He spent the better part of the afternoon at her desk and left once he was done. She'd been elbow deep in the body from Mitchell and Lorne’s case and could only nod when he thanked her for letting him take over her desk. As the doors closed behind him she felt a wave of disappointment but pushed it back as quickly as it came. She hadn’t expected him to stay down here all day, but still it was nice to look up from her work and see someone there. It can get lonely down here. They hadn’t talked much, but after Cameron had left Ronon seemed to feel better about asking questions about what she was doing and if could check his email. She had been happy to answer them and his insights had been welcomed concerning the bodies. The man knew his wounds.

So when Evan and Cameron walk in she has to bite down the laugh that bubbles in her throat. They just both look so serious and she has a feeling it’s because of her earlier visitor. Cameron doesn’t give out one his many nicknames and Evan’s eyes are taking in her Autopsy room like he does a crime scene. Their worry, it’s cute. 

“Hey there, you two,” she greets, motioning them towards the body. 

“Hey, Jenn,” Evan smiles, taking his place near her desk. “Heard you had some company earlier.” 

She smiles, handing him the medical report, “Detective Dex seems to appreciate the quiet atmosphere of the Autopsy room to the noise in Narcotics.”

Cameron mutters something but she doesn’t catch it. She’s not sure she wants to either. Overprotective, is what these two are. He clears his throat and nods towards the body, “So what do you have for us?”

Happy to focus on work, she motions them both closer and goes into explaining just why this body is such an interesting murder: poison.

When they leave she reassures them that she'll have the lab results sent up to them as soon as they're ready in and settles back at her desk. She’s rubbing at her neck feeling the muscles tense under her hand, thinking about food when the doors whoosh open once more. Looking, thinking she’ll see Cameron, Teyla or Laura, she's more than a little surprised when she’s met with green eyes. 

“Hey, did you forget something?”

Ronon shakes his head. “McKay sent me two copies the extra lab test you had him do for my case.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot about those. I told them to send one of those to me.” She leans back in her chair, eyeing the brown file he set down on the table to her right. “Did they help?” 

“Mostly they just told me what you already told me: not meth, but similar ingredients.”

“Oh, sorry.” It annoys her that it didn’t help his case further but those findings still interest her. She can’t help it when her eyes drift back to the file. “You don’t suppose...” 

He smiles and picks up the extra file, handing it to her. “It’s why I brought it down to you.” 

Feeling her cheeks heat up she thanks him. 

He leans back against one of the metal tables and she’s suddenly very glad that it’s one of the clean ones. “No problem. I figured you’d tell me if you find anything that will help the case, as of now we just have shooter that left no evidence save the two bullets in Masters.”

“Hmm, will do,” she says, already flipping open the file.

“See you.” He bows his head and leaves the room with the same silence he entered it. Jennifer sighs, very pointedly focusing on the file in front of her, and not on the body that is leaving her work area. 

-

Things in Atlantis are always connected whether you see the connections or not. It's the Captain's number one rule.

It’s around 10 pm that Jennifer gets reminded of this fact. She’s pulling part of the night shift tonight and gets back the results from the poison from Mitchell and Lorne’s case in the middle of it. At first she thinks she grabbed the wrong file because the compounds in the poison are practically the same to the substance found in Keith Masters body. When she realises that save for one final compound they are the same she fumbles for her phone, grabbing the two files, and calls Cameron. She doesn’t have a number for Ronon, but one call up to Radek and the ACPD phone tree is activated. 

In the ten minutes between she make the calls and Ronon arrives, she’s been busy pulling up the compounds of both cases and it's just as Ronon’s voice breaks through her concentration that she's found her answer. 

“Palytoxin!” She exclaims, looking up to Ronon’s worried and curious face. 

“What?” He pulls up one of the stools from across the room and leans over her shoulder to read the files.

She half spins in her chair, more than a little proud of herself, “It’s how your and their case are almost unrelated.” 

“What and whose case?” He gives a look that can be translated to either: you’re not making sense or you’re not making sense and I’m confused. Jennifer holds up a finger telling him to wait and then points over his shoulder where Cameron and Evan are rushing in, calling out to her.

“Their case,” she grins.

Cameron and Evan reach her just as Ronon gives another incredulous look. 

“What’s going on?” Cameron looks between them.

Evan nods, “Hey, Ronon, Jenn. What’s up?” 

She grabs the files and stands, brushing past Ronon, to put the brown folders side by side on one the metal examining tables. “This is up.” She points to where on the tox-screen for Cameron and Evan’s murder a word is circled. 

All three men look down, at each other, back at her at the same time — she’s not thinking of the Three Stooges, she’s not thinking of the Three Stooges — and at the file again. Evan straightens first, looks between Cameron and Ronon, then at her. 

“Okay, Jenn. Care to fill us in on the joke, because I don’t think we’re getting it.”

Cameron grins, “Maybe just a clue, with a clue I’m sure I’ll get it.”

Ronon only gives her another look and she sighs. Boys, always ruining her fun. Pointing again to the circled word, she explains.

“Palytoxin. It’s a naturally occurring compound, found in soft coral, and it’s also one of the most naturally toxic substances to living things. Basically, it’s a poison, and how you’ll probably find your killer, guys, because coral is not something you can find easily around here and whoever poisoned your guy has access to it, or got some from somewhere.” She nods to Cameron and Evan who both look that they could kiss her or hug her really tightly. Ronon on the other hand just looks more confused and a little annoyed as he looks between the three of them. 

“Jenn, that’s awesome,” Cam smiles at her. 

Ronon frowns, crossing his arms. “Yeah, that’s great, but what does it have to do with my case?”

Jennifer pushes the files closer the three men again. “Because save for the palytoxin, it’s the same substance that your killer overdosed Keith Masters with. The not-meth we found in your vic and the poison from theirs are the same thing, expect for one this one toxin, and I’m thinking that whoever killed Ronon’s guy is the same guy that killed your researcher but not before they added the toxin to the drug and making it into a full-fledged faster acting poison. The palytoxin is the odd man out in the composition of both substances. Actually more like the odd man in,” she explains looking at the files. “I’m actually a little surprised that I didn’t notice it right away, but it didn’t seem to affect the breath of the body Mitchell and Lorne brought in. Could be the added palytoxin, but I don’t see why it would. Possibly the combinations react differently when...” Jennifer trails off, mind already thinking about the reasons why the chemical reactions would change.

“But why would someone add a poison to a drug?” Ronon asks, picking up Mitchell and Lorne’s case file and flipping through it. Cameron does the same with the Ronon’s file, Evan looking over his shoulder.

Jennifer shrugs, “Make it stronger, maybe? Maybe it was the plan to make it a poison all along, but they needed someone to cook the majority of it first. All I know is that I think you two are looking for the same person and this person knows how to work with chemical compounds.” 

“And has access to this coral poison.” Evan puts in. 

“And has access to this coral poison.” She confirms.

She waits as they look at one another again and this time there's no thought of the Three Stooges in her head. Something passes between their eyes that she recognises that is purely in the language of cops before Ronon and Cameron close the files and switch them back. 

“You better meet us upstairs, Dex,” Cameron says, and Ronon inclines his head in agreement. 

“I’ll send up the updated reports on this as soon as I’ve finished them,” Jenn adds.

All three of them start heading out, but Ronon lingers at the door. Neither Cameron or Evan say anything even though they both look back. As soon the door closes behind them, Ronon looks back to her. 

“So you think Mitchell is going to stop glaring at me now?” 

Jenn laughs, “Maybe. Did you want something else?” 

“No, just wanted to say thank you.” 

She tilts her head, regarding him, “You could have done that with them in the room.” 

His lips turn up and winks, “It’s more fun this way.” He leaves and she’s still standing by the table, hip resting against the cool metal, and she swears that his smile did not just stop her in her in tracks. It didn’t, but she’s going to need a second to get back to work. 

It’s been a long day. Yeah, the excuse almost feels true.

-

After her little enlightenment towards the two cases, it doesn’t take long for Cameron, Evan and Ronon to find their guy and more questions. It’s not a Wraith member or even someone working for a Queen; it’s an ex-Genii dealer now turned hitman. He’s the one that killed Keith Masters and Farrol Mylan, of Hoffan Industries, but he wasn’t pulling the strings they learned. He was hired and doesn’t know who hired him. All information was exchanged electronically and the information of how to make the drug-turned-poison was done anonymously. The Genii was hired to hire Keith Masters to synthesis the drug and the palytoxin, their silver bullet, was delivered to him. He was told what to do with it, but the sender is ghost.

Their puppetmaster, as Cameron called him, and whoever it is was good at leaving no trace behind. Rodeny and Radek were especially irate over having to deal with someone who could apparently out-hack them.

Jennifer learns about all this two days later — Autospy isn't very high on the ACPD gossip chain — when Ronon sits down by her desk with a stack of files and two soft drinks. She frowns at the news, but accepts the drink. 

“So what are those files for? Tell me you don’t need me to run labs on all of them, because I’ll send you to Rodney. Or worse Kavanagh," she says, rummaging through her desk for a bag of Doritos she stashed there at some point. She’s got to get better at eating breakfast that does not come in bar form.

He smirks, “You said I could work here.” 

Chuckling, she offers him some chips and he grabs the bag. She’s not chuckling now, eyes zeroing in on the bag because damn it she’s _hungry_. “I thought it was like a twenty-four break from Narcotics kinda thing.”

He just gets comfortable and takes a long gulp of his drink, “I like it here better.” 

“Mmmhmm,” she narrows her eyes at him, but doesn’t argue. She does kinda likes having someone to talk to in her cold little hideaway and Ronon manages to make his very prominent presence fit comfortably in the room. 

“Okay, but just remember if you’re going to take my food,” she takes the opportunity to snatch back her chips, “you have to contribute food too.” 

He reaches back to where his jacket is hanging of one of the file cabinets and pulls out two Milky Way bars, tossing them on her desk.

“Deal.”

Handing over the chips, she grabs one of the chocolate bars, grinning. She’s made worse deals in her life.


End file.
